One Thing About…the Rhetoric of Statistics

Abstract

One thing about statistics we might consider is the rhetoric of a commonplace phrase, “let the data speak for themselves.” The absurd implication of “letting the data speak for themselves” is that a data-producing author or speaker or perhaps you, the data-receiving audience, are getting in the way of data. Admitting that statisticians use rhetoric, and must, is no defect; it’s an advantage. Discovering and probing the rhetoric of statistics is not a shameful act. We are no less scientific for understanding that the data don’t speak for themselves.

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Notes on contributors

Stephen T. Ziliak

Stephen T. Ziliak is probably best known for his book (with Deirdre N. McCloskey) The Cult of Statistical Significance: How the Standard Error Costs Us Jobs, Justice, and Lives. In 1996, he was awarded a PhD Certificate in the rhetoric of the human sciences at the same time he completed a PhD in economics, both at the University of Iowa. He has taught courses about the rhetoric of economics and statistics to postdocs and PhD, JD, MA, and BA students at universities across Europe and the United States.